The 76th Hunger Games
by bethechange1011
Summary: Percy and the gang are hanging out at camp, but they all have the same nightmare. When they wake up, they eventually realize what happened. They've been transported into Panem by the same force that's using the Mist to restart the tradition of the games. To get back to their own time, they have to defeat this force, but first things first. They have to survive the hunger games.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello! Okay, I know there are a lot of fanfics like this, but I really like the idea, and I'm putting a few twists on it, so hope you like it. It's a PJO/HoO and HG crossover about well, you probably read the summary. Anyways, read, review, and enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I am not Suzanne Collins or Rick Riordan even though it would be cool if I was.**

Percy's POV:

It was a few months after we defeated Gaea. We (the seven and Nico) sat in my cabin while Nico and Frank tried to teach us how to play mythomagic. It was actually pretty funny. None of us really got it, we ended up doing the stupidest things and would just end up laughing while Nico just stared at us, looking like he could summon a wave of skeletons to exterminate us if we made one more mistake. I don't think I've seen the dude smile once since Bianca passed. He was always tense around me for reasons I never really understood. I wondered if he still resented me for his sister's death.

Anyways, the horn sounded for lights out. Nico and Frank collected the game and everyone headed back to their cabins. Jason alternated between the two camps every month or so, and Frank and Hazel decided to visit us this week. Hazel and Jason were in the Zeus and Hades cabins, and Frank, who was extremely intimidated by the Ares cabin joined Jason.

My dreams featured a voice I hadn't heard in a while. At the sound of it, I almost wet the bed.

"You putrid demigod." Kronos' voice echoed off of someplace in Tartarus. Annabeth and I didn't pass it, and I'm pretty glad we didn't. It wasn't the best place ever.

"I thought I killed you!" I meant to make it sound like a challenge or threat, but it came out more of a yelp.

"Perseus Jackson. You have disgraced both me, my fellow titans, and my dear mother. You will pay for this." His dear mother. When I think of Gaea, a gentle mom isn't exactly the first thought that passes through my mind.

"What are you going to do? You're in Tartarus." This time, my voice was braver.

"I am a titan! I have power, even in Tartarus. I think you should wake up now. You're causing quite a scene."

Before I could ask what he meant, my eyes fluttered open.

I was lying on the beach, surrounded by a bunch of people I didn't know.

"Wh-what?"

"He's alive!"

"What's he wearing? I don't think I've ever seen a t-shirt like that-"

"Mhmm. Or those pants. What fabric is that? Denim?"

"What are those beads around his neck for?"

"Excuse me?" I interrupted. "My name is Percy Jackson, could you please tell me who you are, or where I am and what I'm doing here?"

"What district are you from?" A man holding a bag of fish asked.

"Excuse me?"

"We're in District 4."

"What?" My brain was starting to hurt. At least when I had amnesia I actually knew a few country names.

"Oh dear. We're in Panem. Does that ring a bell?"

The Latin clicked into my mind. "Did you just say that we're in bread?"

There were a few puzzled looks thrown his way. However, one man understood. "In Latin, yes, Panem did mean bread. How you would know that, though…."

"Listen, I don't know where I am or who you are. if you could just direct me to where New York City is-"

"New York? I've never heard of such a place. You must've suffered a head injury. Come. We'll take you to the apothecaries."

Annabeth's POV:

I woke up in the middle of a road, with a little boy and an older girl who I assumed was his sister. The city was pretty polluted, but it buzzed with energy. I could see a lot of factories and scientist labs. I had never seen a place like this before, however. Everything seemed- so- so futuristic and poor. Futuristic- my dream with Kronos- Kronos was the lord of time- no! Oh no, he didn't. I wasn't in the future was I?

"What year is it?"

"Pardon?" The girl asked.

"What year is it?" I repeated.

"It's about thirty years after the last Quell. Are you okay?"

What the Hades was a 'Quell'? "Quell?"

"No, she's definitely not okay. C'mon. We'll take you to the library to help you get your memory back."

The girl helped me up and we went to a building where they gave me a pile of books.

"Read up."

I could get used to this.

No One's POV:

Things pretty much went the same way for the other five demigods. They woke up in a district confused, with people staring down at them. They too had the nightmares with Kronos, although only Annabeth pieced together the idea that they were in the future. After they spent a few days with the apothecaries, they got busy. Jason worked at an electricity plant in district 5. Hazel had to constantly keep the people of One away from her cursed jewels. Piper groaned, mentally screaming at Aphrodite for giving her a job in a clothing factory in 8. Leo felt right at home in 2 forging weapons. Frank got extremely ticked off when he woke up as a cow in 10. He wasn't quite sure what the mortals saw, but it was probably confusing. Their minds hurt, trying to figure out what was happening, but they had yet to deal with greater tasks.

**AN: So, tell me what you think. Should I continue or not? I don't want you guys to be bored with all of the "demigods fighting in the hunger games" stories, but if you want me to continue, let me know. If I get at least eight (I'm random, okay?) reviews asking to continue, I will. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hello again, as you can tell, I'm continuing. Thanks to everyone who reviewed or followed or even just read. And if you're wondering about the names in this chapter, Suzanne Collins revealed that Katniss and Peeta's daughter is named Willow and their son is Rye. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

Willow's POV:

I sat in our house watching TV with my brother. We had a good life, at least better than my parents had when they were kids. My parents, the legendary Katniss and Peeta Mellark who had survived the hunger games not once, but twice, and started a rebellion. They hadn't told us much, but school had taught me just how terrible the games actually were. Rye and I were bored, so we just watched the various shows from the Capitol. Mom and dad were in the woods. Dad was extremely nervous about going in there, but eventually he decided to paint the scenery while mom hunted. She had tried to teach Rye and I to shoot, but I always got so sad when she shot something. When I told her this, tears welled up in her eyes, and I could tell she was thinking about her little sister, Prim, who had died in the rebellion when she was younger than me.

Anyways, we were watching some random show until the image flickered, and there was a moment of static. Then, it focused on a man I had never seen before who was standing before a cheering crowd.

"For those of you who do not know, President Paylor has mysteriously disappeared from her mansion. No one knows quite what happened to her, but I have been chosen to be your new leader. I am President Sonork. Anyways, while I was helping search Paylor's mansion, we found some of her notes. She has found that things nowadays are not proficient."

"What does he mean? Everything's great, isn't it?" Rye asked. I just stared at the TV.

"So, it is my duty to announce that we are restarting the tradition of the games."

I dropped dad's bread roll that I was chewing on. Rye made an un-human squeaking noise. I expected the crowd to scream and protest, throwing rotten tomatoes at Sonork. However, they did the opposite. They cheered, whooping and clapping.

"They're being brainwashed. He's using magic against them. Did you see their expressions?" Rye gasped.

"That's not possible. You must be imagining things." I told him, although I saw what he meant. For a second, the crowds expressions had flickered. They looked confused and angry, but quickly went back to cheering.

"There you have it! The reaping will be in a few weeks. You know the rules, one male, one female between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district. Have a great day, and may the odds be ever in your favor!" The station went back to the show that was previously playing.

Mom and dad took that moment to enter the house. Mom's bag was filled with meat, her bow slung over her shoulder. Dad held a few canvases and paints.

"What did we miss?" Dad asked, ruffling Rye's hair. Then he noticed my expression. "What's wrong?"

We told them what we had heard a few minutes ago. Dad's paint jars had shattered on the floor, staining the rug brown, green, and blue. Mom looked like she was holding back a scream.

"Y-you're joking, aren't you?" She finally stuttered out.

"No. Ask anyone. I heard a lot of drunk yelling coming from Haymitch's house."

Mom buried her face in dad's shirt. "No. No, no, no, no, no." She ran upstairs before she totally lost it.

"Are you okay?" Rye asked.

"We're- we're fine. You're mother's just worried about what will happen. Everything will be fine, though. I should probably check on her." He ran up after her. "Katniss!"

"Everything will be fine." Rye repeated, doubtfully.

No. No matter how good dad may be with words, I could tell everything wasn't fine. Mom and dad would be mentors. And Rye and I were eligible.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: OMGs I can't wait! ASDFGHJKL… Sorry, I have less than a week to go until I get BoO from one of the tour stops. I am SO excited! And I'll be a year older when I get it too! Just a statement, and this goes for all of my stories: If in BoO, gods forbid, one of the characters dies, they'll still be alive in my stories. Just an FYI, now anyways, here's the next chapter! You should have a better idea of what's happening soon. And, if you were smart enough to see through Sonork BEFORE this chapter, high five to you.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HG or HoO**

Piper's POV:

To say I lost it would be a fair statement. I didn't really know much about the Games, but this much I got. Death. 23 deaths. Blood. Pain. Fight-to-the-death. Great.

It was kind of like that story about Theseus and the Minotaur. The past month had been a giant blur in my head. I didn't get anything. Where was I? What was going on? Where were my friends? I knew that I was in some place called Panem, in District 8, where they handled textiles. Apparently, six other districts had reported people like me, confused and odd. I knew my friends were somewhere. But where?

Anyways, the Games. Anyone was eligible for the reaping. With my luck, I would be one of them. No- I knew I would be one of them. The people in the capital were under the influence of the Mist. That's why they cheered on the Games. Through the mist, I immediatly realized that Sonork was a Titan. Based on my dream at Camp Half Blood and the fact that Sonork backwards was Kronos, I had officially decided that Kronos was getting his revenge by forcing us to fight each other. I still had a billion questions, but too bad. It was the day of the reaping.

"C'mon, Piper." The couple that had taken me in recently got me into a dress, definitely not fancy compared to the dresses in the Aphrodite cabin, but I was okay with that. Heck, anything was better than those glittery pink barbie dresses.

"You don't even need to dress up." The mother, Kristy, commented. "You're gorgeous on your own. Your mother must look like a goddess."

"Trust me. She looks more like one than you think."

She hugged me. "It's been a pleasure to have you here recently. I know you probably won't get picked, but still. In case."

"Thank you." I seriously meant it. They had been great. Even if her living conditions weren't very good, I actually felt like I had a mother and father for once.

When we got to the square, the mayor gave a huge speech about the history of Panem. When I heard that, my mind hurt even more. I knew I was in the future. If this was what North America would be like in a few thousand years, I had to feel kind of bad for the future.

I prepared myself. The lady on the stage unfolded the paper. "For the girls, Piper McLean."

Of course.

The crowd parted for me, letting me move up to the stage. I shouldn't have been shaking like crazy, I defeated Mother Earth for crying out loud! This was a billion times worse, however. Giants and monsters I could handle. But killing innocent people, that was just heartbreaking. How did the future come to that, anyways?

I kind of spaced out for the rest of the lady's speech. The boy tribute was a few years older than me, but pale and emaciated. We shook hands and were taken inside to say goodbyes. The only people that came for me were my Kristy and her husband, Jonah.

"Piper. Oh, Piper." Kristy hugged me tightly, her eyes tear-filled. "It was such a short time, but you have no idea what a pleasure it was to have you. We've been wanting a child for so long. I hope if we get one it turns out half as good as you."

"Thanks." I hugged back.

We just stood there for a while, Kristy hugging me and Jonah sitting next to me on the velvet couch, stroking my hair.

"Time to go." A uniformed man took Kristy and Jonah out.

"Be strong! You can win! We know you c-" As the door closed, Jonah's voice was drowned out.

The trip to the train was fairly short. Lots of cameras, people desperate to get a good shot of me. Nothing I wasn't used to, being my father's daughter.

I entered the train, bracing myself for what was to come the next few weeks.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I finished Blood of Olympus! For those of you who haven't finished, don't worry. There won't be any spoilers for at least another month. Actually, I don't really think that anything would really change in this story because it's in Panem. Whatever, and if you're wondering why I'm not at school, the teachers got today off, so of course, the students did too. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HG or HoO**

Jason's POV:

I sat on the couch in the train, waiting to see the other reapings. I felt horrible at the thought that Kronos was forcing me to kill innocent people. At least I didn't know any of them. I could hear the shaky sobs of the other tribute from District 5. She had broken down the minute she got on the train, and sobbed in her quarters while she stuffed her face with pastries. The train was nice, I had to say, however, I still thought the Argo 2 was more impressive.

"Poor girl. Doesn't stand a chance." My mentor, a guy named Finn sat down next to me. "Can you do anything? Doubt it, most people that weren't raised in Career districts never have good training. Unless of course, you wanted to break the law and hunt like that Everdeen girl."

I had no idea what he was talking about, I didn't ask though. "I'm good with a sword." I didn't mention that I could fly and control lightning. That would've probably freaked Finn out. He would decided I was a psycho and I could wave my sponsors goodbye.

"Interesting. Where'd you learn skills like that?"

Before I could answer, the TV lit up. I watched the other reapings, sizing up my competitors. They weren't in order, as it started with seven. Most of the other tributes looked thin and malnourished. I had to feel bad for them. Apparently, before only people ages 12-18 could get picked. Now, everybody was eligible. No matter whether they won the games already, or if they were a toddler. No extremely little kids were picked. Mostly in their teens or twenties. There was one old man though. And a nine year old. Just Kronos being extra cruel.

I gaped as soon as I saw the reaping in District 1. The boy was strong compared to the others, but I was staring at the girl. Hazel! That's when I realized how cruel Kronos was really being. My other friends must be tributes as well, and we were supposed to fight each other to the death.

I hugged myself tightly, trying not to break down. Why couldn't we put Gaea back to sleep again?

As I suspected, along with the usual emaciated tributes, all my friends were picked. Leo from two, Annabeth from three, Percy from four, Frank from ten, and worst of all, Piper from eight. The thought of killing her made me want to curl up in a ball and never come out.

Finally, the reaping in District 12. A girl with dark hair and blue eyes, maybe fourteen or fifteen, was chosen. She walked up to the stage, bravely, but her hands were shaking. The male was maybe two years younger than her, so around twelve or thirteen. In the crowd, a woman screamed. Tears were in her eyes, and she kept yelling. "Please, please, not them! We'll volunteer, please!" A man held on to her, trying to keep a stoneface. The two were obviously the girl and boy's parents. The girl had the man's eyes and the woman's hair. It was flip flopped on the boy.

"We're sorry, but you two aren't eligible for two reasons. Your age, and also the fact that you've been in the games twice." The announcer looked so genuinely sad. They cut to the comments where the announcers were murmuring about how unfair it was, but how the games must go on.

Rage flashed in Finn's eyes. "Not them! That's too- that's just cruel. That's ridiculous!"

"Who are they?" I asked. I felt bad for them, the boy was so young.

Finn looked at me incredulously. "You're joking, right? Everybody knows those two, or at least their parents."

"Seriously, who are they?"

"Their names are Willow and Rye Mellark. Their parents, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, won the 74th games thirty years ago. They were also in the 75th, but that one ended odd. Just when we thought they'd get a happy ending, their children are sent off to the games."

"They're good?"

Before he could answer, my fellow tribute from 5 appeared in the doorway. "Anyone dangerous?" She sniffed.

"Not really, but Rye and Willow got reaped." At this the girl buried her face in a couch pillow, murmuring about how unfair this all was.

"To answer your question, they might, might not be. We don't know much about that, but their father's great with camouflage. Their mother could shoot you with a bow and arrow faster than you can blink. They might've taught their children."

"Any advice?" I asked.

"Make allies. Train in the areas you think would be the most helpful, learn something new."

"Anything else?"

"Prepare yourself. When you go down, it'll hurt. Prepare for the worst."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: So… I forgot what I was going to say. **

**Oh yeah! So, if you don't already know, Amber Ember7 and I are holding a contest for Blood of Olympus. The prompts you can choose from along with the details and rules for the contest are under "My stories" on my profile, and the story, or document or whatever, is called "Blood of Olympus Contest" (Shocker), so if you want to check that out, please do, and I hope to see some of you enter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HG or HoO/PJO**

Leo's POV:

Man, my life sucked. First of all, I was transported into the future. I'd been gone for probably three weeks. And, I could look forward to Calypso beating the crap out of me when I got back. Assuming I did get back. Until then, I got to kill innocent people, including my friends, or have them kill me. On top of all of that, this District 12 girl has to steal my title. She so copied me. I was on fire first.

On the bright side, I got a decent amount of money that I was never going to get to use from working in the weapon forges in District 2.

"Valdez. We're at the Capitol." The girl from 2 stared out the window. I rushed over. It was impressive compared to the districts, but other than a few odd machines that I would definitely have to check out later, it looked like a normal metropolis. Only bigger, weirder, and everybody looked like whatever god or goddess controlled tattoos, gems, crazy hair, and plastic surgery threw up on them.

"Who do you think's going to win?" I asked.

"Me. Definitely me. I can't wait to kill those Mellark kids. You know, their mother killed my uncle, Cato, over ten years before I was born."

"That sucks."

"Like you would know." She sneered. I officially decided that I hated this girl.

"I lost my mother when I was a kid and barely ever spoke to my dad, thank you very much."

She looked like she was about to say something, but at that moment, one of our mentors came in, an old woman named Enobaria.

"Okay, you two. What can you do?" She regarded us as if we were as good as dead. I'd never really gotten up the courage to ask her about her teeth which were sharpened into fangs. Despite the fact that she was in her sixties or seventies, I had the feeling I didn't want to get on her bad side.

"I've been training my whole life." The girl responded.

"I'm good with starting fires and I can use a weapon without decapitating myself." I decided not to mention that I had a magic tool belt that could produce food and weapons.

"You'll have to do better if you want to win, Valdez." Why doesn't anyone call me Leo? Although I do prefer _Mr. McShizzle_. "These next few days of training, I want you to learn something new, but show off what you're good at. You're both from District 2, I'm expecting one of you to be the winners. No one will come after you if they're too scared of you."

"What about allies? Any recommendations?" The girl asks.

"Normally I'd say only 1 and 4. However, if you can, get 12. I know their parents, and the least I can do is ask you guys to protect them a little bit. The boy from 1 is good, but the girl seems like a total weakling." I wanted to protest that Hazel was anything but weak, but that would've sounded too suspicious.

"Both tributes from 4, boy from 5, and the girl from 3. I've never seen or heard of them before, been told that they've been living under a rock all their lives. They didn't know much about the games, just like you." She pointed at me. "However, just by looking at them, you can tell that they've been trained well. But make friends with everyone. See if you can learn anything that you can use against them. And I would always recommend allying with each other."

"No way!" The girl spat. "I am not allying with that- that thing!" The whole trip, I'd tried to lighten the mood. It turns out she really didn't care that 'kings kept their armies up their sleevies.' Well, I tried.

"Oh, I'm feeling the love. Go on, Miss Smiles." Miss Smiles. Not the best nickname I've ever come up with, but it would've been too painful to call her "Sunshine". It just reminded me of how much I missed Calypso.

"Fine, but for now, get your smiles ready. You're meeting your stylists." With that, the train stopped, and the doors opened.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: So… I'm updating again. Well, duh. You can see that. I'm really not quite sure to say in this AN, so….**

**Just a quick announcement about the contest: It's been brought to my attention that we aren't allowed to have non-stories published as stories, so if you were looking for the contest details under "my stories", I've moved the details to my profile. Hope you guys are interested in entering!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HG or PJO/HoO**

Hazel's POV:

Okay, first things first. Being brought to the 21st century was weird enough. Then, being taken even farther into the future, that just made my mind hurt.

Anyways, after I had finished getting stripped of every hair on my body, which I will tell you hurt like Hades, I sat with my stylist, a weird woman with pink hair and flower tattoos adorning her face, as she fitted me into a costume. My hair was straightened out and decorated with a crown of jewels. I had so much sparkly makeup on, even Aphrodite would be overwhelmed. I wore a plain white unitard with gems that lit up and blinked.

"Why does it light up?" I had asked.

"All of the stylists have decided to honor a previous stylist from over 25 years ago. His name was Cinna and he came up with the idea to light up his tributes. He died standing up for the rebellion. You're lucky that you're too young to remember those days. I was just a little kid, but it was a horrible, horrible war."

"Oh." Was all I could say.

"Turn around." I did.

"You look amazing. You ready?"

"Yeah."

She led me out of the building. My fellow tribute, a boy around 16 named Ruby (Don't laugh. I made the mistake of pointing out that Ruby was a girl's name, and that's how I learned that he can punch. Hard.) was wearing the same ridiculous suit that I was, only without the tiara.

"Alright, big smiles! You two are going first!" Our stylists ran around doing last minute makeup fixes.

We still had a lot of time before we rolled out. Being from 1, we were supposed to be ready first. Typically, one came out first. Then two, three, et was only one other district out, 9 (I have no idea why they were out) although I could see that the elevator was about to deposit another group. I was so focused on all of the high-tech things, I didn't notice the person coming up to me.

"Who are you and what have you done to Hazel Levesque?" The set of metal armor from District 2 studied my outfit.

"Look at Annabeth." I pointed to the District 3 ensemble that had just come out of the elevator.

"She's actually wearing makeup! Aphrodite's probably having a party to celebrate." Leo laughed.

I gave him a look. _Don't mention the gods in public_. He got the message and brought me over to where Annabeth was standing in a corner, away from the rest of her team.

She cracked up. "How do people even come up with these outfits?"

"At least you guys are dressed as humans." Percy came out as a giant fish. Annabeth laughed harder.

"Missed you, Wise Girl."

"Seaweed Brain." She gave him a peck on the gills- er- cheek.

"How did this happen?" I asked.

"I have no idea." Jason, the newest arrival, shrugged.

"Okay. First of all, did you all have the nightmare with Kronos?" Annabeth asked. We all nodded. "So, my guess is that Kronos, who is the time lord after all, finally healed to the point where he can have a little bit of power, and to take his revenge, he brought us to the future where he used the Mist to get it so that we'd have to fight each other to the death. You all saw through Sonork, didn't you?"

"Right away, afterall, the name was a huge give away." Annabeth replied.

"What about the name?" Percy asked.

"Sonork is Kronos backwards. You seriously didn't realize that? We had a month."

"Cut me some slack. I'm dyslexic and not all of us are super geniuses like you."

"I think everyone else got it, right guys?"

We all nodded, just as Piper arrived. She looked like a giant patchwork quilt, wearing a dress that probably made her mom cry. It was that ugly. Still, she managed to pull off the look, unlike the rest of us in our costumes.

"But how can Sonork be Kronos? He's still reforming!" Percy exclaimed.

"Not in the future, he isn't." Annabeth pointed out. My mind was starting to hurt.

Finally, Frank came out dressed like a farmer. I had to fight back a giggle. He looked so uncomfortable.

"So, I'm assuming all of us have an alliance?" He asked.

"You bet." It felt so good to be with him again after a month.

"So, do we have a plan?" We all looked at Annabeth.

"We don't know what the arena will look like, but-"

She was interrupted by the announcers, demanding us to get onto our chariots.

"Talk later." We all agreed, and got ready to go out.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Happy November! Wait- it's November, do you guys know what that means?! I GET TO SLEEP IN AN EXTRA HOUR TOMORROW!- Kidding! Although I do. MOCKINGJAY PART 1 COMES OUT IN 19 DAYS! Oh my gods, guys. I've been waiting for this FOREVER! And the movies are actually accurate, opposed to some movies I could mention *cough* Percy Jackson *cough* Now, without anymore delay:**

**Oops, sorry, I guess there will be: Disclaimer: Bethechange1011 does not own HG or PJO/HoO**

Frank's POV:

We rolled out, and I was willing to bet that Mars was going to punch my stylist and me in the face. Honestly, I would too. I felt so ridiculous in this farmer get-up. Now, maybe it was cool. A few hundred years ago, nope. Not at all. I looked like an Old-McDonald-meets-Dora mix.

However, the crowd cheered loudly, some of the older members cheering when they saw all the illuminated costumes. I was told that the fire and lights were to honor a hero. I wondered if anyone would ever honor Frank Zhang by dressing up as various animals and parading around. The thought scared me almost as much as the fire flickering around various tributes.

I did what I saw everyone else doing, holding their heads high. Based on the stories I'd been told about the rebellion, this would've bothered the former president, what was his name? President Frost? Something to do with winter. However, I don't think Sonork *cough* Kronos *cough* really cared. As long as we were going to kill each other.

The crowd cheered for their favorite tributes. There were a few other names, but they were drowned out by the District 12 tributes' names. Of course, according to my mentors, there wasn't a single person in Panem that had never heard of their parents. "The star-crossed lovers of District 12", they had put it. Even though I could tell it was fake, the fire on their costumes nearly gave me a heart attack.

We made our way down the track while some music, probably the national anthem, played. Finally, once we got to the end, Sonork gave a speech, but I could see him smiling cruelly at the seven of us. We all glared back.

"Happy hunger games, and may the odds be ever in your favor." Kronos/Sonork finished.

_Yeah right. Like the odds are ever in any demigod's favor._ I thought.

The rest of the parade was a giant blur. Especially since I was wearing such a stupid costume. Seriously? I could almost see my grandmother laughing her head off at me in this ridiculous getup. "_Fai Zhang! Zhang men do not parade around dressed like farmers!"_

Finally, I rode the elevator up to the 10th floor and collapsed on my bed after changing into more suitable clothes. The room was pretty sweet, especially compared to the place I'd been living the past month. It made me miss Camp Jupiter though. Everything was nice, but it was too high tech. Back at home, everything was so laid back, modern, but Roman at the same time.

Finally, my escort, some weird lady, came knocking on my door and told me to come out to eat. I had no objection to that. Even though I was told that things used to be worse, there was so little food back in 10.

Once I entered the room, my jaw dropped. There was more food on that table than there was at the Feast of Fortuna. Most of the food was dairy though, but even so, I had a good meal. I hadn't had a full stomach in so long.

Then, there were the showers. Impressive, I could imagine Valdez spending hours just looking at all the thingy-ma-bobbers, but nothing compared to the baths back home. I felt so homesick. I hated this futuristic place. Things were supposed to be better in the future, not worse.

Exhausted, I crashed on my bed, and braced myself for the days and nightmares to come.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Okay guys! This is the chapter when the seven actually first interact with the Mellarks, and I hope this turned out realistically. Willow and Rye POVs are pretty hard to write since you know so little about them, but I managed to get this one. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

Rye's POV:

Mom and dad were trainwrecks. They were always giving us advice, so much I lost track, and crying about how we had to do this again. Mostly, it consisted of mom screaming curses at random objects and dad comforting her. I knew the games had a huge impact on them, scarred them for life. They didn't want my sister and I to share their fate.

Finally, 10:00 came around. Effie, who still insisted on being our escort, took us down to the training room. Something was different about the new president. Before, they wouldn't have let someone over the age of fifty be an escort. Now, Sonork didn't care, as if all he wanted was blood.

"Remember, try to make allies." Dad had told us. "That was probably the most helpful advice other than 'Find water' and 'Stay alive' that Haymitch gave us."

Right. Everyone in here wasn't trained. They couldn't have seen the games coming so most just cowered in a corner trying to tie knots or whatever. Our options weren't that good. I could shoot, mom had taught me even though my sister refused to.

"Any good candidates?" I asked Willow.

She scanned the room. She had Dad's gentle eyes, but her expression was just like Mom's when she was analyzing her prey. "There."

She was pointing to a group of seven kids. Four boys, three girls. The oldest was maybe 17 or 18. The youngest was probably one or two years older than me. They were all well built, as if they spent their free time running laps. If I were to bet, I would bet on one of them.

Willow strode right up to them. I followed quickly. "Hi."

The seven people immediately dropped what they were saying. I would swear I heard the word _gods_, but I was probably wrong. They turned towards us with fast reflexes.

"Hi." A blonde girl with stormy eyes finally replied. "You want to join us?"

I nodded. For some reason, that girl scared me almost as much as Sonork did. Willow spoke, sitting down next to her. "My name's Willow. This is my brother Rye. We're from 12."

"Annabeth from 3." The girl replied. Her tone was friendly, but she was looking at her group almost as if they had been in the middle of something really important before we interrupted them. "Percy from 4, Frank from 10, Hazel from 1, Leo from 2, Jason from 5, and Piper from 8." She pointed to a different person in the circle with each name.

"How do you all know each other? I mean, you're from different districts, and training just started five minutes ago." I asked. It definitely wasn't normal to make alliances so fast.

A girl, Piper, frowned, exchanging a glance with the other six. "We- uh- met before the parade yesterday." She was obviously lying, but there was something about her voice that made me want to believe it.

"Well, are you guys going to try to learn fighting skills or are you just going to stand there?" Willow looked at them curiously. These people were obviously hiding something, and they almost radiated power.

"Right. Um, what can you guys do?" Hazel asked.

"I can shoot bow and arrow pretty well. My mom taught me, afterall." They just stared at me blankly. "Katniss Mellark?" The name didn't seem to mean anything to them. They definitely weren't normal.

"Okay, well, um, what about you? Can you guys do anything?" Willow tried to break the obvious tension.

The seven of them exchanged looks again. "Well, Leo's good at starting fires, I'm pretty good with tactics, Frank can shoot, and we all know a fair amount of fighting." Annabeth spoke slowly, as if she was worried about giving anything away. They were probably just being careful incase we didn't end up as allies after all.

"Where did you learn all that? I mean, I didn't know that districts still trained people."

Willow pinched my arm. She kind of took after Dad the most, good at painting and smooth with words. I was the one who always blurted out whatever came across my mind and enjoyed a nice hunt with Mom. It was pretty obvious that what I just said wasn't helping break the ice. The seven of them looked so uncomfortable.

"They do a little bit. Should we, um, go to learn camouflage?" I was a natural faliure at that, but for some reason, I wanted to do it. Piper's voice had some quality to it that made it sound like it was the best choice.

"Sure!" Willow perked up at the chance to impress them.

We headed over and as it turned out, they didn't need to learn. Sure, Dad and Willow were better, but these people, the "Seven" I decided to dub them, obviously had training somewhere.

The rest of the morning passed like that, knot tying, and survival skills. The Seven were amazing at all of them. Right when we were getting ready to go to lunch, a diamond appeared next to Hazel.

"Whoa! Is that what I think it is?" I exclaimed, reaching out for it.

"NO!" She quickly snatched the diamond away. "I mean, no, it's just a rock from over by the fire starting area." I doubted it, but when I looked at it again, it was a piece of rock.

"But- I would swear it was-"

"Nope, nothing. Just your eyes playing tricks on you. Oh, they're calling us! Bye!" She rushed off with her district partner. The rest of the Seven followed her once they're district was called. Soon, it was just me and Willow.

"They're definitely not normal." Willow decided just as we were called.

"Agreed." And we headed into the cafeteria.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hello guys! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! ONE MORE WEEK! EEK! I CAN'T WAIT! Jennifer Lawrence said she cried for two days after reading the script though… Brace yourselves is all I can say.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HG or PJO/HoO**

Percy's POV:

Schist! Gods, having to put up with Kronos' stupid plan was bad enough, but now we had two mortals that had apparently decided that we were going to be allies. Not that I have a problem with that, it's not like I _want_ to kill them, but our lives just got harder. We wouldn't be able to discuss plans to defeat Kronos, and if we used even the slightest bit of our powers, we'd have a lot of explaining to do. And to top it all off, the cafeteria had absolutely no blue food. None! Like, who does that?

Half of our team was sitting at a table together while the other tributes sat in solitude. I felt so bad for them, the terror in their eyes so evident. However, I forced myself to ignore them, and took a seat next to Wise Girl.

"What do we do?" Leo demanded, frantically.

"I don't know. I'm okay with them hanging around with us, but you realize that in the arena they'll want to make an alliance and then, we just lost some severe advantages." Annabeth sighed.

"We'll figure something out." I wrapped my arm around her although I hardly believed my own words.

"Have you guys tried praying to the gods?" Jason pulled another table over and sat down.

"No answer." I replied. Hazel, Leo, and Annabeth shook their heads to agree with me.

"As far as I can figure, they're not here." Annabeth looked down and she looked so sad, I wanted to kiss her right there and then and do whatever I could to take away her pain.

"How could they not be here? They're immortal!" Leo asked.

"Percy, do you remember what happened to Pan? Once they lose purpose, they can just fade. Here, in the future, no one believes in the old gods, so they eventually faded." I realized she must be right. A lump appeared in my throat.

"B-but how is Kronos still alive then?" I asked.

"I don't know, but seeing how bad things are now, I wouldn't be surprised that he's still alive. And if the lord of time fades, does time itself freeze?" Honestly, I didn't care but I learned not to bring that up with Wise Girl.

Once Piper and Frank arrived, we explained things to them. Their expressions were grim. Finally, Willow and Rye came out and sat at the remaining seats of our tables.

"We can sit here, right?"

"Yeah, of course." Hazel replied, glancing at us for approval.

"So, we were considering forming an alliance with you guys. I mean, you guys were really good at the things we did this morning, and you say that you can use a few weapons. And we get a lot of sponsors because of our parents, so maybe you'd like to team up." Rye smiled at us. Here it was, the sales pitch.

I looked uneasily at my friends. They all had the same expression, like deer trapped in headlights. Finally, Piper responded.

"We'd love to have you as allies, but are you sure? We might attract a lot of attackers and if we're too strong, Kro- I mean Sonork- will probably send a lot of bad things after us."

"We're sure. Our family has a reputation for surviving these things." Rye looked at us like he expected us to know this.

"Um, yeah. Your parents started a war, right?" Frank guessed.

"A rebellion. And they survived two games. You really haven't heard the story? I mean, not to brag or anything, but I can't think of anyone who hasn't heard of Katniss Mellark, or I guess it was Everdeen back then."

"Pretty impressive." It probably wouldn't have been a good idea to mention that I'd done more than that in one summer.

"Yeah. We can just hope that we've inherited their luck." Rye picked at his salad.

"Seaweed Brain, do you want my celery?" Annabeth smirked and I groaned. After all these years, she still hadn't stopped teasing me about how nice a guinea pig I'd been on Circe's island. Our friend at Camp Jupiter, Reyna, apologized for that, but it was still pretty annoying.

"Seaweed Brain?" Willow asked.

"Um- you know, District 4, fishing. I thought it was a nice nickname."

Willow and Rye nod, but I can tell that they're not convinced. Schist! Why don't we just let Piper do the talking?

"So, we were thinking that maybe the next few days we could help eachother out, like, I could help you guys with archery and maybe you could teach me how to use a sword. Something like that." Rye suggests.

"Sure. Percy sucks at archery but he can handle a sword well." Piper stepped on my foot.

"Oh, yeah! No problem, sure."

"Great. Well, we should probably start finishing up eating, they'll probably call us back in a few minutes."

I don't object. Food is food whether it's blue or not. I dig in, and before I know it, it's time to go back to training.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: This is a long one! Hope you like it! It's the moment when Willow and Rye- well, I'll let you find out :)**

**And guys, MOCKINGJAY PART 1 IS OUT! I have to wait until Tuesday to see it, but oh my gods. I cannot wait. Those of you who have seen it, no spoilers even though I've read the book like 50 times.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO/HoO or K- gah! So many disclaimers, I can't remember which goes with which story. I don't own PJO/HoO or HG. There!**

Willow's POV:

The more time we spent with them, the less I liked them. Sure, those seven people would be good allies, but something was odd about them. They refused to share any personal information. They knew close to nothing about Panem's history. Also, that pretty girl, Piper, there was something unusual about her voice. It was so persuasive, so insistent. I didn't believe the things she said, but somehow, she made me _want _to believe it. And all of them were so good at everything, they almost radiated power. At times, I even doubted that they were _human_. Yup. I was definitely losing it.

"So, do you guys know camouflage or medicine?" Rye had taken Percy off to the archery area. Frank had insisted on coming too since apparently he was an archer as well.

"A bit. We're not at healing as some of my friends back home, but pretty much the only one who can heal better than them is their dad. We took some lessons." Annabeth answered. I couldn't help noticing that she was talking as if they all came from the same home. These people….

"Hazel and Frank didn't. We didn't have those courses at Camp Ju-" Piper cut Jason off by stepping on his foot. "I mean, no one she knew would teach her how to do those things in District 1." Hazel nodded.

"How much do you know? And how useful is it in the Games?" Piper asked.

"A decent amount. Healing runs in my blood. My mom didn't get the gift, but my grandma did and so did my aunt, at least, before she died in the rebellion. My dad's an amazing painter, and he taught me a lot. And I can imagine that healing would be extremely useful. Camouflage saved my dad's life. He was a very convincing rock, or so I am told."

"I'm sorry about your aunt doesn't really cover it, but I'm sorry." Hazel looked so empathetic, and the others shared her expression.

"You've lost someone?"

"We all weren't very close to at least one of our parents. We all lost a lot of friends. Leo, Jason, Hazel, and Frank lost their mothers. Piper and I were neglected for a good portion of our lives. Percy's the only one who has a parent who's still alive that he's been close to his whole life." Annabeth looked down. My heart broke to hear that. I thought my family had a bad history.

"Oh-"

"Have you seen this guy shoot? He's almost as good as mom!" Rye interrupted me, arriving back with Frank and Percy.

"Where did you learn to shoot? At some Camp Ju-something?" I could immediately tell I guessed right. Percy and Frank gave the others a look that clearly read _You told her?!_

"So, did you get any better at shooting, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth quickly changed the subject.

"I managed to hit one dummy in the foot."

"But you didn't hurt anyone this time. Way to go."

"You talk like you've seen him shoot before."

I was mostly like a mix between my dad and my aunt most of the times. Gentle, good with words, artistic. Rye took off after our mom, quick and rebellious. However, Rye was too trusting. He never had any suspicions about anything. Whereas, I, if I didn't like something, I would show no sympathy. And despite how much these people had been through, I definitely didn't like them.

"Training, before you came here this morning." There it was again. That motivational tone in Piper's voice. Rye bought it though.

"Okay. Well, it's your turn to teach us something!" He looked at our seven companions expectantly. "Swords?"

"Um, sure. Percy. You're the best swordsman we have. Just don't show off too much. You'll want to, um, you know, surprise the gamemakers." Hazel gave him a small shove towards us.

"What about the Super Sized McShizzle over here?" Leo pouted. _Super Sized McShizzle?_

"Shut up, Leo. C'mon. Let's go try knot tying. You'll be good at that." Piper led the other five to the other side of the training center.

"So. Which one of you wants to go first?" Percy asked.

I looked at Rye. I could tell he was worried that Percy was just as good with a sword as he was at archery. I was having the same thoughts. I didn't want to learn to fight with a sword and accidentally impale myself. And as previously stated, I didn't trust this guy too much.

"Can you give us a demonstration?"

Percy looked like a trapped animal did right before my mom shot it. Almost as if he was afraid to show us what he could do. Of course he was. It was obvious that the "Seven" trusted us about as much as I trusted them. "Um, sure."

He went around lifting all of the swords there were to choose from like he was trying to inspect them for dirt.

"They're all the same." He noted.

"Of course they're all the same. What were you looking for? A magic one?"

"A huge part of sword fighting is choosing a weapon that's well balanced when you hold it. I'm better with my sword," For some reason, his hand moved to his back pocket when he said this. "But these will do."

Percy walked over to one of the dummies that was armored and hacked away at it, slashing and stabbing at it through it's armor as if it were made of paper. I watched in a mix of horror and bewilderment as he pushed the standing dummy to the ground, stepped on its chest, and stabbed it right where the heart would have been.

He turned to us and I could see he's hardly broken a sweat. "So, do you guys want to try now?"

"I-" Rye gaped at him and I could hardly blame him. No one, _no one_ was that good.

"You're out of practice, Perseus Jackson." The swords instructor who had been standing in the shadows all this time, made her way over to where Percy was standing.

She looked pretty normal, dressed in protective armor, her dark hair barely peeking out through her helmet. She was beautiful, actually. I could see Rye's jaw drop out of the corner of my eye. Her voice sounded like a rich girl who had just gotten back from alteration in the Capitol. Despite this however, Percy took a step back, regarding her as if she had crawled out of a sewer.

"Kelli." His hand hovered over his back pocket again.

"You remembered me. I have finally come back from Tartarus after you and your _annoying _friend killed me once again. Join me, it seems that these dummies are too little a challenge for you. Perhaps you'd like to practice with me and I can finally get my revenge." Her voice has a tone similar to Piper's persuasive one.

"Percy, what's she talking about?" I took a step back.

"Stay back, I've got this." He turned his attention back to the instructor, Kelli. "Why should I fight you? There are all these witnesses, and you know I'd just vaporize you again."

"Then perhaps, you'd like me to feast on those two." She gestured at Rye and me. "They would make _delicious_ appetizers."

"Is this some sort of joke?" Rye gripped my hand so hard I think it cut off my blood circulation.

"Whatever you do, don't try to get help. I've got this!"

That's when things got even weirder, something I didn't think was possible. Percy reached into his pocket, and pulled out an old fashioned pen. When we learned about the history of Panem, they brought in some old relics from when the land was once known as North America. A pen just like that one was one of them. Percy uncapped it, and it turned into- a gun? No, if I concentrated hard, I could see a sword, one that had a strange bronze glow.

"Percy! Where did that sword come from?" Rye demanded.

"You can see it?" He looked at us in bewilderment. _Of course we can see it!_ I thought, but I didn't get to say that before Kelli took Percy's momentary surprise to her advantage and lunged at him, baring her- fangs? She knocked him over, and Percy's sword skidded out of his hands.

I screamed. I was so confused, I must've been hallucinating. I got the attention of the other six of Percy's friends. They saw what was happening, and their eyes widened. They ran towards us, grabbing random weapons on their way. More training instructors left their posts, rushing to Kelli's aid.

"Willow!" Rye buried his face in my shoulder as Kelli and her supporters' eyes turned pure red, their hair bursting into flames.

I was terrified, but somehow, I couldn't take my eyes off of the scene. Kelli and the others disappeared into a blur of slashing, stabbing, and maneuvering so graceful, it almost looked like a ballet. A bloody ballet. Soon, Kelli was the only one left. Jason rose up above all the others, literally. He literally floated up into the air, and sunk a spear point into Kelli's neck. She wailed, and thrashed, the seven- I didn't even know whether I could call them _people_ anymore- backed up, leaving me to watch in horror as Kelli slowly disintegrated into yellow dust.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: 'Sup peeps! I know I'm updating earlier than usual (I usually update once a week), but since you guys are so awesome and I'm stuck at home over break with nothing to do, why not? Enjoy and R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own!**

Annabeth's POV:

Great. The training instructors just _had _to be Empousa. Hazel had used the Mist to manipulate what the other people in the training room saw, probably just seven tributes practicing with the instructors. That was one problem taken care of. I turned to where- oh schist!

Rye was curled up in a ball, his head buried in Willow's shirt. Willow sat next to him, her eyes wide with terror. The Mist had no effect on them.

My first instinct was to get away from them, avoid them and act casual, and hopefully they would think that they were hallucinating. But I could see that they knew that we weren't normal, and what just happened had confirmed their suspicions. I don't know what I was thinking, but I walked over to them and sat down.

"Y-you k-killed the instructors!" Willow whimpered, scooching away from me.

"Willow, Rye, I can explain. We're not going to hurt you." I dropped the dagger I was holding.

"Y-you'd better."

"Okay, how much do you know about Greek myths?" I looked at the rest of the Seven. They looked at me like I was crazy, but joined me on the floor.

"Greece was a country back when Panem was called North America. They worshipped a god, no- multiple gods?" I nodded and gestured for her to continue. "And there was a story about a giant maze and a bull monster where people would be sacrificed. It was similar to the Games."

"Right. And those gods, they had children with mortals called demigods." I explained, and we told them our story. The whole story, about the Titan and Giant wars, our two camps, and how we were taken out of the past and brought to the future. It didn't sound too good coming out of our mouths, but Piper backed us up with her charmspeak.

"_Th-that thing you're using in your voice right now. That's a demigod power?" Rye lifted his head._

"_Some children of Aphrodite have it." She answered._

When we finished, Willow and Rye seemed to be fighting a mix of surprise, terror, disbelief, and awe.

"Th-that's not p-possible." Rye stuttered.

"But it has to be." I could almost see the gears in Willow's head as she processed this information. "That's how Sonork restarted the games, how you guys know each other and can fight so well. That's why the en-el-"

"Empousa." I supplied.

"Why the empousa attacked you. It all adds up." Willow's face chose a look of pure amazement. "That- that-"

"That's so awesome! We believe you, but darn. If that's really what's going on, you're in serious danger."

"So I'm assuming you don't want to be allies anymore."

"Are you kidding me?" Rye exclaimed, finally coming out of his shock. "That thing you just did, with the empousa, that was freaking awesome!" He turned to Percy. "Wait, if you're a son of Poseidon, are you not allowed to eat seafood?"

"Really, Rye? And to think I thought you took off after mom." Willow hit her brother.

"I think we have the Nico of the future right here." Percy laughed.

"What?! I'm sorry, by Nico, you didn't mean di Angelo, did you?" Leo voiced all of our thoughts.

I thought back to when we battled the manticore in Maine. It's hard to believe that the immature little kid is the same person as our extremely dark and antisocial friend at Camp Half Blood.

"Don't ask. But listen, you can't tell anyone about this." I think Percy was trying to sound forceful, but he was still laughing so it wasn't very convincing. Well, what do I expect from Seaweed Brain?

"Because you'll be taken out of the games if we do?" Willow guessed.

"It's not just about the games anymore, the games were set up for us. After he gives us our 'punishment', he might not stop there. Once he gets a body, he might- he will- try to take over the world. And with the gods out of the way, nothing will stop him." I replied, dread filling my voice.

"So what do we do?" Rye asked.

I locked eyes with the rest of the Seven. A wave of silent agreement passed between us.

"You train. We're going to need good fighters if we're going to take down Kronos without the gods."


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Are you, are you coming to the tree**

**Where they strung up a man they say who murdered three**

**Strange things have happened here no stranger would it be**

**If we met at midnight in the hanging tree**

**It will take me forever to get that song out of my head. Anyways, as you can tell, I watched Mockingjay Part 1 this week! I won't say anything for those of you who haven't seen it, but it is AMAZING. I want part 2 now so badly even though I already know what happens! **

**Okay, you guys are dam awesome. On that last chapter, I got four reviews in less than twelve hours. That seriously makes me so happy, you have no idea. Thank you guys so much! :)**

**Disclaimer: High five if you can read this: 63th3(h n931o11 d03$ n0t 0wn n3thin9. **

Rye's POV:

Well, today was interesting. Willow and I rode the elevator up to the 12th floor. Mom and dad immediately rushed towards us.

"Are you okay? We heard that something happened today, a training instructor went crazy or something and attacked a group of tributes, we were worried sick!" Mom hugged both of us so tight I thought she was cutting off my blood circulation.

"We're fine. And no one got hurt, it was okay."

"Good." Mom's grip loosened and I sat down on one of the couches.

"Make any allies?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, seven."

"Seven! That's nearly a third of the tributes!" Dad shook his head in disbelief.

"Yeah. They're strong fighters too." Willow added.

"That's great! Just be careful. You never know when they might turn on you, and if they're strong, that will be very bad for you."

"Katniss! You remember how the games work, don't give them any more stress than they already have to deal with." Dad shot her a look.

"It's true though. We thought that Johanna and-" Mom's voice faltered. "Finnick. We thought they were turning on us, they were helping us, but I highly doubt that there's another master plan to break the tributes out. It could happen."

Dad sighed and slumped next to me on the couch. "We can discuss this later. But, kids, the point is, it's good you made allies, but still watch your backs, and see how they act the next few days. Okay?"

Willow and I nod.

"Good, now let's get something to eat."

**LINELINELINELINELINELINELIENLINELIENELIENELIENINEI- WAIT, WHAT?**

I had a dreamless sleep for a few hours. Although the room had plenty of clocks, I'm used to checking the time by watching the moon and sun. I tiptoe over to the window and look outside. The buzz of the city and the tall buildings was so overwhelmingly different from home. I looked up, but I couldn't see the moon from such a low window.

Mom and dad showed us the rooftop yesterday. I decided to go up there to get a better view and try to clear some of the thoughts buzzing around my head. _Demigods,_ I still couldn't believe it.

I crept up the stairs and found the door open, gently swaying from the wind. I was about to head out when I heard the voices.

"I can't do this. I can't. Paylor never would've allowed this." That was mom's voice.

"I know, Katniss. Just hold it together for the cameras at least. They can win, I know it."

"The cameras? Our children are going into the games, and all you can think about is the dam capitol audience?" Mom picked up a rock from the garden and threw it over the edge of the building. It bounced back and landed a few feet away from me. "What's happening, Peeta?" She half sobbed.

"I don't know. There's something about Sonork that's so- so unusual and manipulative, even more so than Snow." Dad pulled mom into a hug and stroked her hair. I could tell by his voice that it was taking all of his strength to hold it together for mom. No, not just mom, for us too. They'd never told us, but we could tell that dad had bad memories related to the Capitol. Not just the games, something that he still hadn't fully recovered from.

"Murders. Our children will become murders, or get murdered, or both." Mom sniffed. I could see the tears running down her face in the moonlight.

"I know. We can't let them see what we saw, do what we did, feel how we felt. Still feel." Dad's voice cracked. "But we have to."

I couldn't take it any longer. I left the roof and went back to my bed, but it was a long time before I could sleep. I already knew it was going to have to happen, but hearing my parents say it, there was something in their voices that made the whole thing so much more real. _Murders. We're going to become murders_.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: YAy! Another update! I needed something to cheer me up, because- well, never mind. The point is here you go, and please read, enjoy, and if you're very nice, review. :)**

**Disclaimer: Geez, I should just have a button that I can press and it'll say in one of those robot-like voices: "Bethechange1011 does not own anything, peace out"**

Piper's POV:

The next few days were normal, at least, about as normal as things could get. We trained, although we were usually better than the instructors, who were thankfully not empousa anymore, at least, if they were, they hadn't attacked us yet. I think Kronos figured that the mortals would get suspicious if we were attacked _every _day. And besides, we were getting thrown into the dam hunger games.

Then there was Willow and Rye. They were progressing quickly, they could use most weapons decently and they knew more about setting traps and starting fires than any of us, well, except for Leo. They also claimed that they could identify poison and edible plants, thanks to a book their parents and grandparents started. I was actually glad we had let them in on the whole demigod and Kronos thing, it made protecting them easier, and they could be helpful in fighting monsters. Hey, nine is better than seven.

Today, we were being tested by the gamemakers. I don't know whether they were actually mortals or some more monsters serving Kronos, but Hazel, our Mist expert, was going to let us know. Until then, we sat in the waiting room. Most of the tributes just looked nervous. The big girl from District 2, who Leo claimed was the Clarisse of the future, just looked smug. The nine of us, minus Hazel who was inside the gymnasium, sat in the back and discussed (in whispers since the room was otherwise perfectly quiet) what to do.

"How did your parents get high scores?" Jason asked.

"Their attitude. My mom attacked the gamemakers, physically and rebelliously. My dad reminded them of how cruel the games actually were."

Percy whistled. "Hats off to them."

"But what do we do?"

"You guys, give it your best. Show off everything you've been working on, get as high a score as possible." Annabeth instructed.

"That'll just make us a target for other tributes though."

"I don't care about the other tributes. We'll protect you guys, but right now, it's all about Kronos."

The doors opened. Hazel walked out and mouthed _Regular mortals_.

"Leo Valdez, District 2." The speakers called.

"Step back, Super-Sized McShizzle coming through." Leo walked through the crowd of tributes, making finger guns at random people. Most of them just looked confused. Apparently that gesture hadn't made it to the the future.

We made casual small talk for a while after that. I lost track of how much time had passed before just Frank, Willow, Rye, and I were left in our little group.

"Piper McLean, District 8."

"Good luck." Willow told me.

"Thanks." I stood up and walked in.

When I walked into the training room, I could immediately tell that the gamemakers were paying close attention, watching my every move. The exact opposite of what Willow and Rye had told me they were usually like. Of course, the five of my friends who had gone before me had obviously knocked their socks off.

I picked up a few daggers that felt pretty well balanced in my hand. Katoptris would've been better, but it was all the way back in Cabin 10. I walked over to about ten yards in front of the dummies and threw the knives. All of them hit the target. I grabbed my last one and knocked the dummy over, stabbing it in the "heart" over and over.

I guessed I still had about four minutes. I stood up and scanned the room for anything else I could use to impress the gamemakers. The dagger was my main offensive weapon. Then I had the Cornucopia and my charmspeak. Neither one I could really show off to regular mortals.

I walked over to the camouflage station. I was no artist, but I guessed using paints to decorate myself couldn't be that different from- gag- putting on makeup which was one of my mother's specialties. I rolled up my sleeves and grabbed a few shades of brown paint. I tried to remember what Thalia's Tree back at Camp Half Blood looked like. I smeared the paint on my skin, and soon, I had a basic bark pattern going.

Finally, one game maker who I assumed was the leader, stood up and nodded approval. "Thank you, Piper. You may leave now, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

I grabbed a towel and wiped the paint off my arm and rolled my sleeve back down. I walked out, the doors slamming shut behind me. Now, I just had to wait for tonight.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: WARNING! THIS DOES CONTAIN A BOO SPOILER! However, after two months, I'd assume you've read it already, so enjoy!**

**Okay, just a couple chapters ago, I told you how awesome you were for 4 reviews in the same 12-hour period. Now, I got FIVE reviews in the same time. Just seriously, you guys rock. Let's see if we can beat that record!**

**Disclaimer: *presses button and nothing happens* Grrr! *presses button again* Stupid buttons never work. I don't own!**

Leo's POV:

Our whole team was on the couches, waiting for our training scores. Honestly, I didn't care what I got. All I cared about was not having to kill innocent mortals, returning back to the present, keeping my friends alive, and not dying. Is that too much to ask, Kronos? But seriously, I was _not_ going to let my friends die, I was _not _going to kill innocent people, and I was _not_ going to die myself. Been there, done that, not fun. Besides, Calypso would find my soul in Elysium and bring me back from the dead just so she could kill me yet again for dying on her. You gotta love having such a sweet girlfriend, huh?

"How do you think you guys did?" Enobaria asked.

"At least a ten. I mean, come on. I can fight _really_ well, and I'm the best looking tribute in the games, meaning, sponsors." The girl from my district, Solder was her name, puffed her chest in pride. I rolled my eyes. She was like a Clarisse La Rue and Drew Tanaka **(AN: For those of you who have not read KC, 1) Read them, they're amazing, and 2) Yes, that is Drew's official last name) ** rolled into one.

"First of all, I highly doubt that appearence wise, you'll be more popular among the sponsors than anyone, especially not Beauty Queen from 8, secondly, I think I'll get a decent score."

Solder opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, the TV blazed to life. The announcer, what's-his-name, launched into a speech about blah-blah-blah (hey, you expect me, _me_, to pay attention to this stuff?). Finally, a picture of a boy around my age lit up the screen.

"Probably a five." Solder guessed.

"From District 1, Ruby-" I didn't hear the rest because I was too busy cracking up at the poor guy's name. His parents must've really hated him. "Six!"

Hazel's picture appeared.

"Probably got a 2." Solder, I guess, was going to bet on everyone's scores. Enobaria nodded in agreement.

"Hazel Levesque," The guy's eyes widened. "Eleven!"

The looks on Enobaria and Solder's faces were priceless.

"From District 2," My face lit up the screen.

Solder rolled her eyes. "Probably a zero."

"Leo Valdez, ten!" **(AN: I know Leo would probably have gotten a higher score, but I just had to have this next line in there, it's too perfect XD)**

"Dam right, I am!" I grinned.

"First, what's that supposed to mean? Second of all, how did you and Levesque get such high scores? You're both such weaklings!"

"Solder Loskeit, four!"

"Who's a total weakling now, Loskeit?" My grin changed to a satisfied smirk.

The scores went on and on, mostly ranging from 2 to 7. Percy, Jason, and Annabeth got 12s. Frank got the same as Hazel. Piper got the same as me. Willow and Rye managed to pull eights.

"Well, there were certainly some unexpectedly high scores tonight. Maybe we'll get a hint for what happened tomorrow at the interviews! Until then, good night Panem, and may the odds be ever in your favor!" The screen went dark.


End file.
